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EMAIN: Extremism and the Internet

a British Library RIC Funded Project

The Internet has some 60 million users: that number is doubling every year. The vast majority of this usage is perfectly legitimate, and serves to influence social change. However, there are concerns over the issues of extremism which need to be addressed if the whole of society is to gain from the benefits, and at the same time be protected from the threats, of the new information networks.

Library and information services have a key role to play in ensuring a threat-free environment, not least through increasing our understanding of how information channels are being used. The timeliness of these concerns is illustrated by the aims of the European Year against Racism, which is being observed in 1997.

Funded by The British Library Research and Innovation Centre under the Digital Library Research Programme, the EMAIN Project seeks to contribute to our understanding of the nature and extent of these problems, to explore ways in which mis-use can be discouraged and controlled and to increase our understanding of the issues of extremist use of networked information services, leading to the identification of specific problem areas and of possible solutions.

Objectives of the Project:

  1. To gather intelligence on the extent of Internet usage by racist and other extremist groups, on the nature of that usage and on the trends which are discernible.
  2. To explore technical, legal and ethical issues which arise within this context, including developments in Europe and North America.
  3. To disseminate the results of this research widely, and in so doing to influence both policy makers and practitioners, and to identify specific areas requiring further research and development.

Outcomes of the Project:

  1. A report on Extremism and the Internet, including the broader issues and responses, with clear recommendations.
  2. Papers published in the professional press to highlight these issues and advance debate on them, identifying good practice.
  3. The findings of the project will be used to brief policy makers and to seek to influence the development of programmes of research and development which will assist in the resolution of the problems identified.

For further information about EMAIN, please contact:

CERLIM
The Manchester Metropolitan University
Department of Information and Communications
Geoffrey Manton Building
Rosamond Street West
Off Oxford Road
Manchester M15 6LL

Tel: 0161 247 6142
Email: cerlim@mmu.ac.uk